Signaling apparatus.



No. 682,768. A Patented Supt. l7, l90l;

H; B. TAYLOR. .v

SIGNALING APPARATUS. m -him a. 1. mm).

(In Iodul.)

l9 I' I w 2 '4e 0/ iii/2:110

m; Noam: rum ca. maro-uwmw-anmamn, a. c,

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT B. TAYLOR, OF NEWVARK, NEW JERSEY.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

I SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters latent NO. 682,768, dated September 17, 1901.

Application filed October 1, 1900. Serial No. 31,642. (No model.)

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT B. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usef ul Improvements in Signaling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in signals. While it is particularly intended for use with railway-signals, it is also adapted to be operated in connection with any and all types of visual signals which are exposed to the elements.

The object of this invention. is to produce an operating device which will keep the signal free from accumulations of snow or ice. To attain this object, I employ a heating device which may be brought into operation either manually or automatically and which when in operation will raise the temperature of the signal to the point at which the accumulation of snow and ice would no longer be adherent, and thus remove or prevent such' accumulations. The device when operated manually may be brought into use during a severe snow or sleet storm and can remain in operation until again out out by the operator, or the device may be controlled automatically on a manual-control signal, or the device may be operated on an automatic signal.

With this device the maintenance of signals will be considerably lessened in cost, as it will not be necessary to employ such heavy counterweights for returning the signal to the danger position. In practice it is necessary to increase very materially the counterweight per signal during the winter season, in consequence of which the maintenance of the battery equipment is more costly, owing to the increased output of current of the bat teries which is required to operate the signalmotor with its greatly-increased load. As severe snow and sleet storms sufiicient to interfere with the proper operation of a signal witli a light counterweight only occur about a half-dozen times a year, it is obvious that the operation of a signal with a heavy weight for four or five months is practically wasted energy. In order to save the energy which would otherwise be wasted, I propose using the light (or summer) counterweight in connection with my device.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a semaphore-signal provided with my ice-removing means, the heating-circuit connections being shown diagrammatically. Fig. 1 is a transverse section of the signal-arm. Fig. 2 is a side view, and Fig. 3 is a front View, bot-h partly in section, of a disk signal provided with my invention. the connections for a device with manual control.

In Fig. 1, 1 is the semaphore signal-arm, mounted on a support 2. Signal-arm 1 is shown hollow and is preferably of aluminium, although many modifications may be designed that will work equally as well. 3 is a mat or pad of non-combustible material contained in said signal-arm, with resistance-wire 4. embedded in said material. The wire 1, which is continuous throughout the mat and is so woven or distributed that the heated por tion of the signal-.is as large as possible, enters the mat at 5 and returns at 6*, being connected at these'points by flexible conductors or their equivalent to the outside circuit. From points 5 and 6 wires 5 and 6 lead, respectively, to a contact 7 and to one side of battery or source of current 8, a wire from the opposite side of battery 8 leading to armature 9 of magnet 10 and said armature resting normally on contact 11, from which a wire 12 leads to normally open switch 13, which when operated engages contact 7. Armature 9 may also engage a contact 14 when denergized, a wire 15 from contact 14 leading to signal-motor 16 and wire 17 leading from said motor back to battery 8. Signal 1 is connected with arm 18 of counterweight 18 by rod 19, rod 19 being pivotally secured to a casting 21 of signal 1 and also connected with counterweight 18 through a slot in end of rod 19, engaging a pin 20 on arm 18, the object of this slot being to allow a'small amount of lost motion or play to the signal 1. This is not of vital importance, however, for if the ice accumulates on blade 1 in suflicient quantities said blade will sag or droop enough to move counterweight 18 slightly. I, however, prefer to provide the slot, as the signal will then be more sensitive. Casting 21 of signal 1 is enough heavier than the blade 1 to hold said casting against the stop 22, while coun- Fig. 4 is a diagram of p terweight l8 rests against stop 23, the slot thusbeingfreeatitslowerextremity. Switch 13, which may be provided with a weatherproof cover 13 carries an insulated button 25, which projects into the path of similar said blade becomes heavy with the accumulation, said blade will sag or droop su'fliciently to cause button 26 to engage button of switch 13 and lift said switch against contact 7, which completes the heating-circuit through resistance-wire 4 in the hollow blade. I The resistance of the wire 4 is so proportioned that the temperature of the signal will rise beyondthe melting-point of ice, this being sufficient to remove said ice, while at the same time keeping down consumption of current as much as possible. lieve the signal of its weight will be very short, owing to the fact that the ice will be melted first onthe inside-i. e., next the sigual= blade-thus destroying its adhesion to the; blade, and it will then detach itself byits own weight.- Immediately the weight is removed from blade 1 it will return to its nor mal position and open switch 13, breaking the heating-circuit. I have arranged the heatingcircuit so that when a train enters the section and deiinergizes magnet 10 the signal will be operated by motor 16, armature 9 engagingcontact 14, closing the circuit from the bat tery 8 through the motor 16. At the same time armature 9 leaves contact 11 and opens the heating-circuit. This second break inthe heating-circuit is not,- however, essential, and connections from battery 8 to switch 13 may be made, as shown in the dotted line a. This arrangement would place the heating-circuit ative when snow or ice abnormally weights under control of the signal-blade entirely.

Figs. 2'and 3 show an arrangement of the heating-circuit for disk signals. 2 is a'signalcase containing the usual disk-signal devices. 29 is the protecting=glass 30 is the-outside glass, with resistance-wire 4 embedded in it. Said glass is adapted to slide up or down to a limited extent in the frame 31. ance-wire 4 may be placed between two sheets of glass, if desired, or may be disconnected from the glass and occupy the space between glasses 29 and 30, or may be arranged in many other ways and still be capable of the same results. 32 is a strip of fiber or other material secured to glass 30, and to which strip are attached ends of wire 4. Contacts 7 are secured to the ends of wire 4 and are adapted to engage with contacts 13. Springs 33 rest against the under side of strip 32 and are soconstructed as to keep the glass 30 raised and the contacts 7 and 13 separated. Wire 5from one contact 13 leads to battery 8, and wire'6 The time required to re- 1 The resistleads from battery 8 back to resistance-Wire wire 4 in glass 30 and causes the ice to slip from the face of glass 30. When glass 30 is no longer weighted down, it will return to its normal position and again open the heatingcircuit.

Having thus described my invention,the following is what I claim as new therein and desire'to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a railway-signal-heating apparatus, the combination of a signal, means for heating the signal, and means for causing said heating means to .become operative when the signal becomes weighted by snow or ice.

2. In a railway-signal-heating apparatus, the combination of a signal, heating devices arranged in heating relation to the signal to remove the snow or ice therefrom, an elec trical circuit for the heating devices, and means for controlling said circuit adapted to cause operation of the heating devices when snow or ice adheres to the signal parts.

3. In a signal-heating device, the combina= tion of a signal,- heating means for the signal embedded in a part of the signal, an electrical circuit and source of energy for the heating means, and a circuit-closer in the heating-circuit and controlled by movement of the signal adapted to automatically put the heating means in'operatiou when snow or ice'adheres to the signal parts, and to automatically stop the operation of the heating means upon the removalof the said snow or ice from the signal parts.

4; The combination with a visual signal, of means for electrically heating said signal, an electric circuit for said heating means normally open and a controlling-switch in said circuit connected with the signal and oper the signal.

5'. The combination of asignal-blade, a normally inoperative heatingdevice located in the interior of the blade, and means for operating the heating device controlled by the movement of the said blade.

6. In a railway-signal-heating device, the combination of a signaL'electrical resistance located in the interior of the signal-blade, an electric circuit and source of energy for the said resistance, means actuated by the signal-blade for closing and opening the heating-circuit, and means also for opening and closing the heating-circuit adapted to be actuated by a passing train.

7. The combination with a visual signal, movable to different positions, of heating means for the signal, an electric circuit for said heatiug'means, and contacts in said electric'circuit, arranged to be open in normal and operated positions of the signal, but con-v trolled by movement of said signal to an intermediate position under the weight of adhering ice,'to close the heating-circuit.

8. The combination with a visual signal pro vided with heating means and a motor for moving same to difierent positions, of a circuit for said motor, a circuit for said heating means, a source of electric current, a trackcircuit and means controlled thereby to put the source of current in connection with either 10 the motor-circuit or the heating-circuit.

HERBERT B. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

A. P. KNIGHT, J. GREEN. 

